Winter Portrait

Gallery: Man & FaunaPosted December 23, 20154,387 views10 comments

This is our southern houndy-mutt rescue, Gracie Rose, momentarily motionless in the deep snow of February 2015. It was taken at 3:12 PM as the sun was low and the light warm. I especially enjoy taking photos of Ms. Gracie in the winter, when her rich-colored coat contrasts nicely with the cold tones of winter. She doesn't seem to mind the attention either. :-)

Canon 50D, EF 135/2L, f/2 @ 1/3200, ISO 400, hand held. Full frame minus a crop off the top.

Comments

10 comments

Comment posted by Jerry Marella on December 23, 2015 at 11:13 AM

Beautiful portrait, Jim. I see that Gracie has Boxer ears and Shepherd colors. Not sure where the long snout comes from, but I guess it's all in the stew. Photographically, you're developing a signature with that fast 135. Super sharp with just enough depth, and the background fades away. Not sure how your winter is this year, but we;ve had nothing but rain. Need a little snow to get the creatures moving and provide some opportunities.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 142 Posts, 862 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Erhardt on December 23, 2015 at 12:14 PM

Jerry, Gracie is full grown and weighs 45 pounds. She came from a litter of six and they all look quite different. Check out this thread about a reunion of the litter one year later - the photo I posted shows Gracie in the middle, our little Maddie Lou (not the same litter) on the right, and Gracie's littermate "Greg" on the left, who is much bigger and a really magnificent but very different looking dog than Gracie.

The Canon EF 135/2L is an awesome lens, perhaps the sharpest/best bokeh lens I have ever owned. It gets plenty of use!

Warm and rainy here too due to El Niño, but snow and colder temps in the forecast next week. After the brutal winter we had last year, I'm not complaining....yet.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 245 Posts, 2421 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Marella on December 23, 2015 at 12:35 PM

Whoa!! Greg looks huge! You do great stuff for rescue, Jim. Hats off to you and Donna.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 142 Posts, 862 Comments

Comment posted by Cay-Uwe Kulzer on December 23, 2015 at 12:39 PM

Jim,

great portait and very good usage of depth of field due to the aperture choosen. The light is as you have said also very nice.

Registered on January 27, 2004, 494 Posts, 4021 Comments

Comment posted by Gary McGhee on December 23, 2015 at 3:33 PM

She is gorgeous Jim. Lovely portrait.

Merry Christmas to you, Donna and Gracie Rose.

Registered on April 15, 2010, 142 Posts, 2416 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Zablotny on December 24, 2015 at 12:43 PM

Good shot Jim. Gracie Rose's fur color contrasts nicely with the blue shadows in the bg............................Jim

Registered on January 17, 2004, 705 Posts, 3594 Comments

Comment posted by Marylynne Diggs on December 24, 2015 at 12:50 PM

Pretty girl! I can just see her romping with Piper. Great rescue story too.

Registered on December 14, 2010, 122 Posts, 1034 Comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on December 24, 2015 at 6:18 PM

Lovely dog, Jim, and a beutiful portrait. I like the head turn and it does work very well against the bg.

devil

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Jim Gavin on December 25, 2015 at 4:34 PM

Gracie Rose is a beautiful lady and your portrait capures her beauty very nicely. Is she part Carolina Dingo by chance?

Registered on August 14, 2008, 293 Posts, 1250 Comments

Comment posted by Brad Hill on December 27, 2015 at 8:24 AM

Hi Jim,

The lighting and shallow DoF definitely make this one for me! The colour contrast doesn't hurt one bit either! And, of course, she's just gorgeous...

Definitely agree with you that fast, wide-aperture lenses definitely can provide unique (and extremely pleasing) images.

Cheers...

Brad

Registered on May 29, 2007, 431 Posts, 6061 Comments